The $40 million to $45 million UCF facility, while "not a done deal," could be in place by the start of the 2006 season "if everything were to break just right," University President John Hitt said Monday.

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said he learned of the proposal for a UCF on-campus stadium before Christmas. He said a renovated Citrus Bowl might be a better fit for UCF because it could provide a "world-class" stadium for the school.

Because the UCF plans are in the fledgling stages, Dyer did not know whether they would affect plans to renovate the Citrus Bowl.

"I hope they'll end up in the Citrus Bowl," he said. "I think it's a better venue for them."

Three years after a study showed that an on-campus stadium was financially beyond UCF's grasp, the school is exploring a 45,000- to 50,000-seat stadium at less than half the original estimated cost. The project in 2002 carried a $107 million price tag.

The stadium would be funded by donors, ticket sales and concession sales. Using state money for athletics facilities is prohibited. Any decision about whether to build would have to be approved by the UCF Athletics Association board of directors and by UCF trustees. The project is supported by board of trustees chairman Dick Nunis.

At Hitt's request, Athletic Director Steve Orsini is collecting information about how the school could move games out of the Citrus Bowl, the football team's home for 26 seasons.

Three weeks ago, UCF halted construction of a softball stadium on the east end of campus, Orsini said. That site, which currently encompasses practice fields for soccer, is earmarked for the football stadium.

Orsini said there is no official effort to raise money for a project that has not been announced. But multiple sources close to UCF athletics and the UCF Foundation said several million dollars already has been privately pledged.

"We have not solicited anything," Orsini said. "We have not taken anyone's money."

Hitt and others have long acknowledged an on-campus stadium would happen someday, and a site already was designated in the school's master plan. But the time frame had been measured in decades. That changed with news that the Knights would be homeless for at least one season during a renovation of the aging Citrus Bowl.

Orsini researched other venues -- Daytona Beach's Municipal Stadium and Disney's Wide World of Sports were two -- but the on-campus option became viable when a stadium designer showed Hitt the possibilities of prefabricated construction that uses more steel and less concrete, a process that lowers costs. UCF would not identify the designer.

"I was incredulous that it could be done for that money," Hitt said. "When I told Dick [Nunis] about it, he had the same reaction. He didn't believe it. But as I looked at it and saw the details, the idea really took hold. For the money, we have to look at it."

Hitt has ordered financial, environmental and traffic studies and gave Dyer and Orange County Mayor Rich Crotty a heads-up about UCF's plans before the holidays, representatives of the politicians confirmed.

"Dr. Hitt has questions, and he has asked me to gather as many answers as I can," Orsini said. "No decisions have been made. We're simply gathering information in a number of areas."

Tim Leonard, UCF's major-gifts officer for athletics, said raising money for an on-campus football stadium would eclipse any other project in terms of fund-raising ease.

"I don't know how you'd quantify it," he said. "You could say a lot of people would want to help out."

Coach George O'Leary has endorsed the idea of playing on campus and has said he wants an on-campus facility to entice more students to attend games and to get more high-school prospects -- and coaches -- to campus.

UCF estimates at least 15,000 students would be within walking distance of an on-campus facility.

Dyer and others who support Citrus Bowl renovations, including Florida Citrus Sports Executive Director Tom Mickle, hope to include UCF as a long-term partner in that project. The school would participate only if it plays games at the stadium.

"It may be that we end up back there," Hitt said. "We don't know how this is going to work out. But I can't think of anything that we would do that would stop the city for their plans to make that a great place to play."

Amy C. Rippel of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report. Alan Schmadtke can be reached at aschmadtke@orlandosentinel.com.